Unbroken is finished!

Yeah, another one bit the dust yesterday. Whew! At it’s core was the theme of infidelity and forgiveness. Cheating might hit someone’s hot button out there, but I like keeping it real. As well, it was a sequel to a very sexy ménage so I could hardly play it safe with a strictly m/f story.

Now I have to figure out what’s next. I have several projects in different stages, but I need to be smart about what I choose to focus on for the next little while. So, I’m going through my plans today and adjusting goals. I have a futuristic adventure that’s tons of fun to work on, but it might be smarter putting together an intrigue proposal instead. I know I have to wrap up MIK-7 sometime in August, but then I’ll feel like I have to plunge right into MIK-8, and I don’t have that story firmly in my mind yet. Decisions, decisions.

And it’s not helpful at all that I have the latest episodes of Torchwood saved. They are calling to me. I was heartbroken when Toshika and Owen died, and just have this horrible feeling that someone else is going to go. Does anyone know if they plan on any more episodes? This inquiring mind needs to know!

For those of you who don’t know, I have interests other than writing my own stories. Years ago, my sister and I decided we wanted to do something to share what we’d learned about the writing biz because we’d bumped along the hard way without much support. The publishing industry is cruel enough. Why not offer writers a place where they can hone their skills before they enter the fray.

I came up with the name, Rose’s Colored Glasses. Rose was a morphing of my sister and I. She wore large rose-colored glasses, through which she saw the stories living inside her mind come to life. Our mother drew the cartoon character of Rose, we developed a website and invited some of our closest friends to join us.

We offer online courses, some of them for free, but all at very reasonable prices. We travel to writing groups and provide in-person plotting bootcamps.

Last month, I organized a critique group and a workgroup to plow through Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel—both are still open to join.

In August, we will lead our annual “Write 50 Books a Year” workshop. It’s free, it’s fun, and you will take away tools to improve your planning and productivity.

In September, we will start our next interactive Plotting Bootcamp—a month-long endeavor that is so popular, we have many writers return again and again.

So, if you haven’t checked us out, we have a brand new edition of our newsletter for to read, chock full of lessons learned by “The Roses”.

For you writers out there, I blogged about Living in Limbo (life between contracts) at the NINC blog.

For the rest of you, I saw this list on Ashlyn Chase’s loop. It’s hilarious, but I have my own funny incident to add to the list at the end!

Things Not to Say to a Cop

1. I can’t reach my license unless you hold my beer.

2. Sorry, officer, I didn’t realize my radar detector wasn’t plugged in.

3. Aren’t you the guy from the Village People?

4. Hey, you must’ve been going about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job!

5. Are you Andy or Barney?

6. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.

7. You’re not going to check the trunk, are you?

8. I pay your salary!

9. Gee, officer! That’s terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too!

10. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.

11. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That’s how far ahead of me they are.

12. When the officer says “Gee son….Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?” You probably shouldn’t respond with, “Gee officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating donuts?”

Okay, so the true story…

A few years ago when I lived in Texas, my daughter and I took my car to the carwash. After running it through, I didn’t want to take the time to dry it off with a chamois, so I headed out of town. A siren chirped, and I looked up to see blue lights in my rear view mirror.

All right, so I knew I’d been speeding, and my daughter sat beside me mumbling, “I told you that you were going too fast, mom.”

The officer came to window and I rolled it down, smiling up at him.

He said, “Ma’am, do you realize you were going twenty miles over the posted speed limit?”

Well, of course I did, but I really, really didn’t want a ticket, so I batted my eyes and said, “But officer, I was only trying to blowdry my car!”

My daughter groaned beside me and the officer’s lips pressed into a skinny, tight line. But he gave me a ticket anyway. No sense of humor.

Maybe because I played with the Tarot cards last night.

I asked a question regarding a proposal I have out at the moment. I ask this question once a week, and so far, the cards have told me to be patient.

Last night, I drew the Queen of Wands. Since, I’m still learning, I went to the book. The answer was ambiguous. Someone else holds my fate in their hands. So I interpret it to be the editor—and was it coincidence that the card depicts a blonde woman? I think not. This particular editor is both.

I drew another card, the Six of Wands, to see what her answer would be. And it said absolutely yes! So now I have it on great authority and all I have to do is wait. 😉

My author copy of this anthology came in the mail recently. It’s lovely and stuffed full with sexy short stories. Sadly, it’s one of the last erotica titles that will be published by Black Lace. The British publisher is closing its doors, but I thought you might like to take a peek inside.

From Have Sex Will Travel…

The Russian’s fingers did it for her.

As annoyed as she’d been with his arrogant set down on the train platform before they’d boarded, one look at his hands as he clutched his newspaper in front of his face and she was mesmerized, unable to drag away her gaze.

He had large hands, shaped like shovels, dark, sparse hairs sprouting below the second set of knuckles. His fingers were long—the tips blunt and thick. His nails were clean, trimmed, but not filed or buffed. He had a man’s large and capable, but unfussy hands.
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Get your FREE Astroprofile

Tell me you can resist an offer like that. It popped up on my screen when I was checking my ho-hum horoscope, so I followed it for kicks. I filled out the little application and voila! Five minutes later I had a free profile in my inbox. My horoscopes are never very accurate—I’m so not your typical Cancer—but the numerology aspect of the report was interesting…

Your Life-Path number is probably the most influential numerological aspect to be considered and represents who you are at the time of birth. It indicates specific traits and will likely be active and influential throughout your lifetime. It is the overall number that determines much of what will be important to you and how you will handle things as they come.

You are sprightly and versatile, and usually end up being the life of every party. Mostly it is you, who gets up on the table and entertains everyone with an improvised one-man show. You feel most alive if you have an audience, are the center of attention, and get an immediate reaction to your mental and verbal output.

Yeah, that’s me. Follow the link and see what the Internet God has to say about you!

I blogged at After Midnight Fantasies today. Since I haven’t been there in a while, I posted the blurbs for the three latest releases. I’d love for you to drop by and leave a comment. And if you’ve read any of the stories, please let others know what you thought!